foliage foraging; 5, sallying; 6, raptorial; 7, dabbling or stalking in water; 

 8, diving in water; 9, mud probing; 0, soaring or swooping. The fourth digit 

 indicates preferred nest site: 1 indicates cattails or bulrush; 2, shore, 

 marsh, or water; 3, cliffs, caves, rims, badlands, buildings; 4, ground, 

 grassland; 5, low shrub (less than 1 m or 3 ft); 6, tall shrub (1 m - 3 m or 3 

 ft-10 ftj; 7, tree branch (greater than 3 m or 10 ft); 8, tree cavity; 9, 

 underground burrow; 0, nonbreeding in study area. 



Status (Birds Only) . First letter denotes indicated status in the study 

 area: M indicates spring and fall migrant only; R, permanent resident; S, 

 summer resident; V, summer visitor (nonbreeding); W, winter resident. For 

 permanent and summer residents, evidence for breeding is given in parentheses 

 using a modification of Binford's (1973) categories, which are, in order of 

 decreasing conclusiveness: PJ indicates prejuvenal young observed; NY, nest 

 with young; NE , nest with eggs; AN, active nest completed, contents unknown; NC, 

 active nest completed but empty; UC , nest under construction; UN, active nest, 

 condition unknown; AF, adult carrying food; AC, adult carrying nest material; 

 CO, copulation observed; CD, courtship display observed; TO, territoriality 

 observed; RH, range, habitat, and dates; SS, observed in area outside breeding 

 season (for sedentary or permanent resident species only). Only the most 

 conclusive evidence obtained during this study is listed in the table. 



Monthly Occurrence . The letter "B" indicates observations made during the 

 baseline study period (DNRC 1978); the letter "T" indicates observations made 

 during other years . 



Table 3 summarizes the cumulative numbers of species observed in the study 

 areas during the baseline study and through the first, second, and third 

 monitoring periods. This table shows that six new vertebrate species were added 

 to the species list as a result of the third year's monitoring; these are the 

 black-crowned night heron, cinnamon teal, marbled godwit, northern phalarope, 

 downy woodpecker, and masked shrew. 



Narrative Accounts for Selected Species 



Data in addition to that in Tables 1 and 2 were obtained for certain key 

 species, and are summarized in the following species accounts. Information 

 presented here, limited for the most part to nesting raptors, upland game birds, 

 and ungulates, primarily assesses changes that have occurred in the Mine Study 

 Area since the baseline study. Additional data on all 209 species are on file 

 with D.NRC. 



Red -tailed Hawk . The nest found on the Proposed Mining Area in 1977 was 

 inactive in 1980. The nest found in 1977 in the southwestern corner of the Mine 

 Study Area produced at least 1 young in 1980, and the nest near stockpond MClO 

 contained at least 2 young. A new nest in a cottonwood about 2.5 mi WSW of the 

 Dreyer ranch contained at least 2 young. 



Swainson's Hawk . Swainson's hawks seemed to be less common in 1980 than in 

 1979. Of the two active nests found in the Mine Study Area in 1979, only one 

 (in the original Proposed Mining Area) was active in 1980; it produced 2 young. 



Ferruginous Hawk . Three ferruginous hawk nests were active in 1980. One 

 was near the 19 79 nest site about 2 mi NN\ of the Dreyer ranch house and 

 contained 2 young on June 13, 1980. Another was near the 1977 nest site about 2 

 mi Nlv of the Waller ranch house and fledged 2 young. A third was just off the 



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